What are Keywords?

When was the last time you were scrolling through social media and saw an advertisement that made you curious. Maybe a sweatshirt you want to order or a new purse you want to buy? If the ad isn’t clickable, you jump over to Google and search for “XYZ company sweatshirt” or “new purse.” Those words you put in the search bar are keywords! So what are keywords? Keywords are a single word or phrase that identifies the subject of a search. 

Why do you need keywords? Keywords are the beginning of your client’s journey to finding you and your business. The same way you would go to Google and search for “XYZ company sweatshirt” or “new purse” is the same way your client will go in and search for your business services. They can use two types of keywords – short-tail keywords or long-tail keywords. Let’s discuss these two keyword types and the differences between them.

Short-Tail Keywords

Short-tail keywords are only one or two words, like “coach” or “wedding.” These keywords are very broad and allow consumers to find very generalized information about that subject. Short-tail keywords are about generating foot traffic. 

When it comes to short-tail keywords, they are extremely popular and also hard to rank for in search engines. You have to compete with major retailers like Amazon to rank for these keywords. Aside from ranking high in the search engine, you also have to consider the SEO difficulty. SEO difficulty is the estimated competition to rank organically for that keyword. If the difficulty is high, you will have a harder time ranking for that keyword. A high difficulty is 50 – 100. 

Use a tool like Ubersuggest or SEMrush to determine SEO difficulty. SIDE NOTE | SEO difficulty is not the same as Paid Difficulty; that’s another post, and paid difficulty involves ads, not organic rankings.

Long-Tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords are much more specific to your business. An example of a long-tail keyword is “Orlando Florida wedding planner” or “female mindset business coach.” These keywords use 4+ words that are very unique and targeted to the business you are trying to find. One of my favorite SEO strategists, Sara Dunn, has a great example of how to properly use keywords that I want to share with you as well. 

Sara is an SEO strategist for wedding professionals. A lot of times we tend to describe ourselves or our business with flowery language that the client would never use. For example, “boho luxury wedding photographer” looks like a great keyword, but according to Ubersuggest, no one is searching for this. However, “Orlando wedding photographer” gets 880 – 1000 searches per month. 

Why is there such a difference? Searching for a “boho luxury wedding photographer” is very specific and not the terminology a client would use. They just want a photographer. Once they find your blog or webpage using the keyword, then your photos and style will show you are a boho style photographer as opposed to an industrial space photographer. Does that make sense? Reach out to me if you need more information. 

How to Start Using Keywords

Do you understand what keywords are now? Great! Let’s learn how to start using them. What are keywords that you are currently using on your website? Are you using them in the right places? That’s where you start. Keywords should be peppered throughout your website to guide consumers through your content and website. Once you look at what you are currently using, you can then go to Google and search for more keywords. 

If you are a female business coach, search this term on Google. Skip over the ads at the top (we are all about organic reach here!), and you want to look at the section labeled “People also ask.” This will give you some ideas for keywords and content that you can create. You can also use related searches at the bottom to find more keywords to use in your content. 

Last tip – and PLEASE, please hear what I’m saying. You can look at your competitors website for keywords they are using. Consider how you can use them, but DO NOT COPY THEIR CONTENT! Take inspiration, not the actual words! Ok All done.